Virtual Machines

An example of a Virtual Machine customized to look like a PC that Leopold Slikk would use. The Operating system in use here is Windows 7.

Windows Vista running in Parallels for Mac OS X

In a lot of AGK Parodies, Leopold Slikk or other characters are shown using computers. While some parodists use screen capture software to show the parodist's desktop, or even animate their own, many parodists don't use anything to show what the character is doing on their PC. In this tutorial, we will show you how to create and use a Virtual Machine!

This tutorial concerns the use of VirtualBox, but there are plenty of tutorials online if you use VMWare.

We will not endorse the use of piracy to obtain an OS. The copies on WinWorldPC are abandonware, meaning that they are not used that much anymore, and thus are free of some copyright restrictions.

It should also be noted that the comments for this article also feature a lot of useful advice, so I'd recommend investigating that too after looking at this tutorial!

For those who want to skip straight to the links used in this tutorial, a section for that is at the bottom of the page.

ISO files for Operating systems like Windows 2000 and XP are easy to find. Here is an example.

Physical disks for OS's such as Windows XP are cheap on eBay, and you can get ISO copies of Abandonware Operating Systems from WinWorldPC.

You may also want to find an activator if you're using Windows Vista or above.

If you want to use a beta version of an operating system, mjd7999's YouTube channel or WinWorldPC are good places to look for these betas.

Linux or Ubuntu distributions can be readily found all over the internet.

Patience - Making a functioning VM requires some trial and error, and may take some time based on how complicated the OS is.

Step 1

Configurating and creating the virtual machine

If you haven't done so already, download your chosen operating system ISO now, or locate your physical operating system disc.

Once you are done with installing VirtualBox, open the program, and click the New button in the top left corner.

In the dialog box that appears, name your operating system. Make it match the OS.

Click Next. Here, you can allocate the RAM the VM will use. I'd recommend at least 1024 MB (or 1 GB) of RAM to help the machine run smoothly.

Click Next. Choose to create a virtual hard disk, or if you want to use the same hard disk for a second VM.

Click Create. Select the type of hard drive, and click Next. Choose between a dynamically allocated file, or a fixed-size file. I'd recommend using a fixed-size file so you won't have problems with fragmentation. It may take long to create, but it often runs faster.

Click Next. You shall now need to allocate the amount of your computer's disk space that the VM shall use. For a modern Windows or Linux guest, you will probably need several gigabytes for any serious use. It is worth remembering that the OS itself requires space on the virtual hard drive to install.

Once you are done doing that, click Create and wait a few minutes. Your VM is now created!

Step 2

Installing the operating system

Start up your VM by double clicking on it. You should receive a dialog box telling you to either navigate to your ISO File or use the physical disk drive, which you can change in the drop down menu. If you have chosen to use the physical disk drive option, make sure your OS Disk is in the disk drive. If you have chosen to use an ISO file, navigate to where the ISO is saved and select it. Whatever the option you pick, you will need to then click OK.

The VM will then start up, and you will then have to install your OS according to the instructions for that specific operating system.

Step 3

Final steps and customization

Now that the VM is installed (and hopefully you have the VM in front of you loaded up and running), you will need to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions. Click on the Tools drop-down menu, then click Insert Guest Additions. Follow the instructions in the installation which follows, then restart the VM. The Guest Additions adds a number of improvements to the VM to help it run more smoothly.

Now you can use your VM like a real computer! Customize it to suit your needs, and you're done! You now have an OS that you can use in your AGK Parodies!

Links used in this tutorial

Attention

Installing Windows Vista or older OS's onto a solid-state drive is strongly discouraged as its settings may damage the drive. Prefetching and defragging do a lot of writes to the drive which will shorten the drive's lifespan. Install them onto an external hard drive if you really need to.

If you are installing Windows onto Parallels, be sure to disable the file sharing options that enable you to access the files in the host system using the VM.

To make the footage of the virtual machine into a video, make sure you are using recording softwares such as Bandicam, OBS. The best part is to record what are you doing in the virtual machine.

Recording games in a virtual machine it's not really possible, we suggest recording the gameplay on your on the real pc in full screen or crop the screen using your recording software or your video editor.